Critical Gamer: Ubisoft: Avatar Interview

Critical Gamer Writes: Phil Brannelly, brand manager for Avatar: The Game in the UK, was unfortunate enough to be the one demoing the game at the Eurogamer Expo – and therefore, the one subjected to my questioning. Easy one first: How did Ubisoft first come to pick up the Avatar license?

"When James Cameron was pitching the license we went to him with our own story, we wanted to offer something a little bit different. The game is set two years before the movie but in his universe. That's one of the reasons why he selected Ubisoft for the job, because everyone else was just doing 'the game of the movie', and he liked what Ubisoft Montreal had done in the past; that's how we got the gig basically. Ubisoft Montreal have been working on it since 2006 in close collaboration with James Cameron."

Just how close an eye did Cameron keep on the game's development, though? Were there certain things the team couldn't do?

Nothing I've seen about Avatar, either film or game has got me excited. I saw the trailer for the film, and just don't think all the hype is warranted. 3D entertainment is on the rise, but I'm certainly not going to upgrade my HD set any time soon, especially not with a £3000 price tag!